A Family Aftermath
by Shenlong Girl
Summary: Now that Hope is gone for good and the real Gabrielle is home with her family… and Xena... and Joxer, everyone has a lot of questions. What information is Gabrielle willing to share? And what will it take to get some alone time with Xena, anyway? Takes place immediately after S04E03, "A Family Affair." Gabrielle/Xena, F/F, Romance/Family Drama/Cuddling-and-then-some.
1. Gods, Monsters, and Daughters

**Title: **A Family Aftermath

**Summary:** Now that Hope is gone for good and the real Gabrielle is home with her family… and Xena... and Joxer, everyone has a lot of questions. What information is Gabrielle willing to share? And what will it take to get some alone time with Xena, anyway? Takes place immediately after S04E03, "A Family Affair."

**Notes:** This episode was amazing, but it left so many loose ends and questions! Here's my stab at addressing them. This take is predicated on my interpretation that Xena and Gabs casually visit their parents from time to time. For an example of how Xena's first visit back to Potidaea might have gone, see another fic of mine, "Family Obligations." However, it is not required reading for this!

**Chapter One: Gods, Monsters, and Daughters**

Gabrielle and Xena leaned on each other, savoring their moment on the bench outside Gabrielle's family home. Two horrors were dead in the barn. One wore her face; both shared her blood. This would spawn a whole new genre of nightmares for her, she was fairly certain. But for now she gingerly snuggled up to her slightly beat-up lover, and Xena hummed in contentment while rubbing the top of her head with her cheek.

"Where's your family?" Xena asked softly.

Dreamily, Gabrielle replied, "I told Lila about me, and I think she led our parents into town with some story."

Xena hummed. "They'll probably meet Joxer there, then."

"So we're alone?"

Xena turned slightly to face Gabrielle, who lifted her head off Xena's shoulder. Just enough to meet her for a kiss. It was soft and chaste, nearly tentative, but they both took a long pull of air through their noses at the sheer rightness of it. Neither wanted to pull away. When Xena did so, it was only long enough to further turn her body and take Gabrielle into her arms, and they rushed back together. Xena's right hand pressed into Gabrielle's bare lower back while her left caressed her hair, and Gabrielle worked a hand between them to come up and cup Xena's face. They whimpered in simultaneous need and relief, re-exploring each other's mouths and finding familiar, beloved territory.

They parted, breathing hard, only to press their foreheads together. Blue eyes held Gabrielle's green ones in thrall, projecting reverence across scant inches. It wasn't close enough. After such a separation and trauma, Gabrielle nearly wanted to crawl under Xena's skin.

A low, rough tone delivered, "I love you, Gabrielle."

"I love you, Xena. So much. When I couldn't get word to you… You'll have to tell me where you went."

"I will. But we have company."

"Yeah." With reluctance, the pair disentangled, but they couldn't bear to part entirely. Gabrielle left her arm around Xena's shoulders, and Xena dropped a hand onto her knee

Firelight flickering off tree leaves preceded a half dozen torch-wielding villagers led by Joxer and accompanied by Gabrielle's parents and sister. They all paused upon seeing the women seated cozily on the bench, but then Joxer ran straight up to them. He looked them both up and down and grinned.

"The real one!" He hauled Gabrielle into a bear hug that left her feet dangling. "Gods, Gabrielle, I thought Xena had just went nuts again and you were really dead."

She could not respond beyond a croak, having been robbed of breath by the press of a hammered breastplate. She flailed her legs a little and then heard a thump.

"Yeow!" Joxer dropped her, rubbing his head, and she stumbled only to be steadied from behind by Xena.

After a few breaths, Gabrielle managed. "I thought I was dead, too, Joxer. Glad to see you're... feeling strong." She shifted her gaze to her family as they slipped by Joxer, trailed by some of the villagers. "Mom, Dad. Long time no see."

Lila immediately filled her arms, but her parents hesitated, wide-eyed and hopeful.

Her father asked, "Is it true, Gabrielle? We were living with some kind of… evil thing that looked like you?"

"Yes. She's dead…" she addressed the other villagers, "in the barn, with the monster that killed the shepherd." Xena had filled her in on the killings.

Her father turned to go look, but Xena stepped around her to stop him. "Are you sure you want to see that, Herodotus?" He hesitated, and she added, "I know I didn't."

Eugene the miller gently interrupted, "We'll take care of it. Why don't you all go inside? You've done enough." He didn't wait for a response before ushering the rest of the villagers toward the barn.

Meanwhile, Hecuba had been staring into Gabrielle's face, and now she reached out to wipe away a tear Gabrielle hadn't realized was falling.

"Mom?"

Her mother's own tears began to fall. "How could we think she was you?" They embraced, and when they parted, Herodotus took Hecuba's place.

"She was so cold - she never joked, she was rough with the animals. We thought- you were- that there'd been too much trauma…" His voice was thick with held-back tears, and Gabrielle couldn't hold back a few of her own.

Joxer offered, "Hey, not everyone has as much experience with secret twins as we do. Xena has at least three of them running around Greece, and even she was fooled at first."

Pulling out of the embrace enough to grip Gabrielle's shoulders, her father sniffed and asked, "But how? Why? Joxer said she served some god called 'Dahak,' and that the monster was her- her child? What does that have to do with you?" He looked at her companions. "And where were all three of you when that thing came to our home?" There was little ire in it but much naked confusion. He had fed, housed, and parented a monster for weeks, none the wiser until today. Gabrielle had an inkling how he felt.

Xena interjected, "We should go inside for that talk." She glanced back toward the barn as she spoke, and Gabrielle nodded.

Hecuba observed, "You're bleeding from that arm again, Xena. Yes, come on; let's get that taken care of."

Lamplight revealed Gabrielle would have to stitch some of the slash on Xena's arm. Other scrapes needed cleaning, as well, but there wasn't much to do for the bruising on her face, neck, and back. Joxer needed attention, too, though not nearly as much. Lila helped Gabrielle tend to the wounds while their parents straightened the room, made tea, started dinner, and otherwise avoided looking out the windows at what their neighbors were doing in and around the barn.

Partway through stitching, Gabrielle idly wondered if the village men would burn the bodies of Hope and the Destroyer. Most likely. Who knew if it would work this time, but it was better than burying them on her family farm like macabre seeds.

"Hey." When Gabrielle flicked her eyes up, Xena was affecting a little pout, her eyes twinkling. "Go easy on me. Who taught you to stitch, Theodorus?"

Gabrielle couldn't help smiling, but she asked primly, "You want to whine about this? Remember that arrow?"

The faux pout and twinkle both faded. "Like I could forget."

The guilt hit instantly. Even Gabrielle didn't appreciate a reminder of Xena pushing a poisoned Persian arrow through her chest right now. "Bad joke. Sorry." She stood up enough to press a kiss to Xena's cheek. It was automatic, completely thoughtless. They were typically more discreet around other people, including her family, but something had damaged her filter tonight. Call it discombobulation, or neediness, or relief.

Lila coughed, and Gabrielle surmised her and probably at least one parent had seen that. Oh well.

Once the hurts were soothed, dinner was simmering, and everyone had a mug of tea, they wound up in a loose circle near the kitchen.

Herodotus began, "Gabrielle, we don't want to upset you, but we need to know… Why did that creature look like you? Why did she come to us? Xena, what did you get my daughter into this time?"

Gabrielle glared. "Don't start blaming her unless you want to yell at me, too. Hope was… I helped bring Hope into our world," she hedged, unwilling to lie or to get into all the painful details. When her parents just stared, she added, "We had a very complicated year."

Her mother looked lost. "Gabrielle, you served an evil, foreign god? The one Seraphin ran off chasing?"

Before Gabrielle could choke on an explanation, Xena clasped her shoulder and moved to stand at her side, staring down her parents. "She was tricked. And she took care of it - twice before today. Thought she died last time." Her voice shook almost imperceptibly, and Gabrielle squeezed the hand on her shoulder.

Joxer stepped up to her other side. "Yeah, did Seraphin tell you Gabrielle tackled Hope into a fissure in a volcano? Because she did. Xena and I saw them disappear into a fireball; I had nightmares."

Gabrielle appreciated the emotional support he offered. Less so the imagery he fed her parents.

Herodotus visibly brimmed over with horror. "Gab, was jumping into… into lava really the only way? You've promised me, time and again, that you would be careful out there!"

With a slight shake of the head, she responded simply, "If I didn't, Xena was going to die, and it would have been my fault."

"Gabrielle," Xena admonished, jostling the shoulder she still held.

Gabrielle just shook her head more. "It's true. Hope was going to doom the world, and because _I_ owed Ares a debt, he was able to bargain for the Fates to cut _your _life thread if you killed her. He made it clear that was on me, besides everything else about Hope that's my fault."

Lila boggled, "You owed Ares a debt? The god of war, Ares?"

Xena used Gabrielle's captive shoulder to turn them to face one another, and her other hand cupped the side of Gabrielle's neck, her thumb coming to rest along her jaw. She punctuated her next words with a little shoulder squeeze. "And my fault. We agreed that was all in the past, even if the debt wasn't called in until later. And you know not to listen to Ares; he's a snake."

Tiredly, Gabrielle stated, "It's still the answer to the question. I jumped because I couldn't watch you kill yourself in slow motion over… all of that."

Xena's stricken expression faded. She knew, of course. She just didn't like to hear it aloud.

Gabrielle tried a smile and covered the hand Xena still rested on her neck. "Come on, I lived. You wouldn't have, and I don't think I can find more Ambrosia to bring you back from the dead again."

"I didn't even have your body for a funeral." Xena's gravely tone broke Gabrielle's heart. Truth be told, she, too, had wondered if Xena had died somewhere. No one she spoke to at the hospice had recent news of the warrior princess, and the uncertainty eventually hollowed out a spacious den for the stress that took up permanent residence in her gut. In retrospect, she was thankful for the weeks of oblivion she had before coming to.

Hecuba commented mildly, "Neither did we, you know. Seraphin sent word to us you'd died, no mention as to how, and the other one didn't show up for days after."

A wave of guilt hit Gabrielle, the crash physically bowing her form. In its wake she was grateful for her father's solemn, "...We're all just glad you're alive and home, Sweetheart." Her distress must have been too obvious for him to press for more answers. She was sure the family had a lot more questions, particularly about what she might owe a god, but just as well - there was no one thread they could pull without untying at least two more very personal stories she wasn't prepared to share. Britannia, Chin, Solan, Hope, even Callisto. What would they think of her convincing Xena to work with Perdicus' murderer?

Xena's eyes now offered nothing but understanding and sympathy, and Gabrielle let herself lean into her partner's supporting hands a little. The thumb at her jaw gave soothing caresses even as Joxer began to speak.

"How did you live, anyway? We couldn't see you after you fell."

Gabrielle shook her head to clear it and turned back toward the group. "I don't remember. I just know I woke up in a hospice weeks later. And I wasn't strong enough to travel for a long while after that." She turned to muster a half smile for Xena. "I helped with patients while I was regaining my strength. Taught them a few things you taught me."

They held a soft look before Gabrielle's expression shifted to a questioning one. "Where did you go? And why come to Potidaea, if you thought I was dead?"

With a long breath, Xena calmed to dispassion, and she recounted, "I ordered Joxer to escort Seraphin home, then met up with Hercules to deal with loose ends." Gabrielle realized the hind's blood dagger was likely the loose end just as Xena's eyes briefly shifted to catch hers. "Iolaus was beside himself." Then she felt a fresh pinprick of dismay for every friend who probably thought she was dead. Sweet Artemis, what a mess. "After that I went to see Hades, and he said he didn't have you."

Lila asked, "Excuse me, you 'went to see Hades?' Just knocked on his door, and that's how you found out she was alive?"

"Not exactly, but he owes me. When he didn't have you, I figured you were in the Amazon Land of the Dead. So I traveled to Northern Amazon territory on the steppes and spirit walked there. Couldn't find you." Xena's explanation had begun to speed up. "Fought a shaman; came back here to search for you. Picked up Joxer on the way. Found Hope here."

Gabrielle gaped, along with everyone else. "Xena. Now I have a hundred more questions."

Xena said nothing and maintained a politely bored expression.

Lila cleared her throat, and Gabrielle just knew she was going to make one of her legendarily questionable attempts to cheer up a conversation. "So, Sis, you've been leaving entire gods out of your stories. Any more you want to tell us about? Does Hermes owe you an express message delivery?"

Gabrielle was actually trying to remember what she had and had not shared on her visits - she would have sworn they knew the Hades stories - when Joxer decided to answer for her.

"I'm not sure what they get up to without me, but we three have had Aphrodite and Cupid work their magic on us a few times." He smiled blithely.

A mixture of outrage and disgust bloomed on the family's faces, and then horror dawned on Xena's and Gabrielle's.

"Not what it sounds like!" Gabrielle protested.

First Lila, then her mother slipped into fits of snickering, each one raising the temperature of the bard's cheeks. Her father rolled his eyes and tried to hide a smirk at her distress. She looked to Xena for comfort and received only a half smile and a helpless shrug.

Hecuba eventually managed to comment, "That's certainly my real daughter's face."

Solemnity shattered, they sat down for a dinner full of determinedly mundane small talk. Herodotus soon closed up again, however, directing not a single word at Xena but somehow projecting ire toward her just the same. Being emotionally exhausted, everyone let it go for the time being, but Gabrielle took note and made sure to squeeze Xena's knee under the table from time to time. Afterwards, she begged a bath for the three travelers.

Hecuba sized them up. "You all did roll around in the dirt enough today, didn't you? I'll do you one better. Get me the sheets that… the other one was sleeping in, and give me all the clothes you're wearing. I'll do a late batch of laundry tonight, and you three can wear fresh sleep shifts until everything's dry. Lila, Herodotus, can you clean up dinner?"

A little while later, Xena and Gabrielle shooed Hecuba from the shack that held the family's tub.

"Are you sure? There's hardly enough water in there."

"We're sure, Mom; it's plenty." As long as two bodies would be immersed in it. "Thank you." Once she left, the couple shed their robes.

"Oh, Xena," Gabrielle whispered. She walked around her lover, who twisted to follow her with her eyes. The bruises had only grown more prominent in the scant hours since the final fight with the Destroyer, and underneath them, Gabrielle could count too many ribs.

"What?"

"You haven't been eating enough." She gazed into Xena's face more closely. "Or sleeping."

"It didn't seem important," Xena responded simply.

"You need to take care of yourself!"

Xena called the ghost of her rakish smile. "Good thing you're here to do it for me now, huh?"

Gabrielle let out a short laugh. "Obviously. Get in the tub, dusty. I'll do your back first."

They washed briskly to hurry the arrival of the back-scrubbing portion, then luxuriated in it. Gabrielle ran her fingers through Xena's silky mane each time she shifted it to access a shoulder or a patch of back. Where bruising allowed, she also dug her thumbs into the pronounced muscles there and tried to drop a kiss over each soothed-away knot. She soon had a boneless warrior draped over her own pulled-up knees, groaning appreciatively at each new touch.

"Gabrielle, I'm going to drown if you keep that up. It's too good. Turn around. When I can move again, I'll get your back."

Gabrielle obliged and was rewarded with Xena's own careful ministrations. A rough sponge was followed by deft fingers smoothing away her stress. She let her senses float in the steam and the sensation of soothing, nonclinical touch. It had been such a part of her life before the hospice, a key part of their bond even as friends, and this bliss had her about ready to slip underwater when Xena pulled her against her front and leaned back against the side of the tub. Gabrielle simply let her head fall back and rest on Xena's shoulder. There was no awkwardness here, no pain, no questions - just deep relaxation and the delicious contact between their two bodies. Xena's breasts pressed into her back, and she sat between Xena's legs, enjoying every brush of their thighs. While Xena's arms lounged on the edges of the tub, Gabrielle's rested on the warrior's legs, occasionally caressing along one.

"I think," Xena declared, "in a hot bath, with you, is my favorite place to just… be."

Gabrielle hummed her agreement. "I missed it. We can't be here long, but… we saved some time sharing the bath, so let's enjoy it a minute longer, huh?"

As if on cue, the door opened.

"Mom's sent water to freshe- oh!"

Gabrielle and Xena indolently rolled their heads sideways to see Lila walk in, look up, and nearly drop a steaming bucket of water in her haste to leave again. Gabrielle grumbled about careless sisters.

Xena just sighed. "Guess it's Joxer's turn."

"Yeah."

Later, dried and dressed, Xena asked, "What are you going to do about your sister?" She opened the door and walked through it.

"What about me?"

The couple yelled and jumped.

"Lila, you just lurked out here?!"

"I didn't know what else to do! Gabrielle, are you two… I mean, you've barely let go of one another all night, and you kissed her earlier - which _Dad saw_ \- and then in the bath…" Lila's ramble trailed off.

"Yes," Gabrielle answered, uninterested in dissembling any more this evening. "We're together." She paused to watch the words sink in, her sister's shoulders lowering and eyes widening. Gabrielle implored, "I love her, Lila. I know it's not something you see in Potidaea, but… can you accept it from me?"

Lila stared at her for a long time. "...Dad spent like a week trying to get Hope to admit you two were together. He thought Xena broke your heart and wanted to skewer her over it."

"What?!" Gabrielle's mind cartwheeled like a leaf in the wind. No wonder her father was so hostile today. And who knew what Hope had insinuated to him.

"I only picked it up from Dad's weird questions. Well, that and the gossip I heard around town after you left the first time. I hadn't heard of it at all before that..."

Xena snorted in a failed attempt to restrain a peel of laughter. "Oh, poor Gabrielle. You didn't even need to touch me to ruin your reputation, but I'm glad you did." She leered.

Gabrielle's hands planted on her hips. "Keep laughing it up and I'll touch you all right. You know, we could go talk to Cyrene after this, get things really out in the open with family."

Placid as could be, Xena explained, "Oh, she knows. Figured it out last year. Didn't you wonder why she doesn't try to give you your own room anymore?"

Gabrielle remembered that their room was typically right near the inn's stairs when they stayed in Amphipolis, and she cringed. "I'm afraid to ask how she put it together."

"I didn't dare. All I know is that one day she gave me a dressing down about how much younger you are and accused me of having some kind of crisis."

"Crisis? Of all your exes, I'm the crisis? Does she even know about-"

Xena pointed a finger at her. "Ah-uh, don't start listing. Or else I'll tell your sister about all your little road boyfriends."

Lila said, "Oh please do anyway." Gabrielle noticed she never explicitly said she approved, but once Gabrielle and Xena started bantering, mischief had swiftly chased out the doubt and discomfort in her face. Gossip and sibling torture probably rated higher to her than gender specifics.

Still, Gabrielle suggested brightly, "Hey, why don't we tell Joxer it's his turn for the bath?"

Lila led them to Joxer with minimal additional ribbing, but to Gabrielle's surprise he was in the stable, laying out his bedroll on the straw.

"Joxer, what are you doing out here? I thought we had a spare pallet inside."

Lila answered for him, "We laid it out in our room yesterday, for Xena, like usual. Not that she slept in it, since you two- er, she and the other you spent all night in the barn." Well that wouldn't do. Sleeping alone tonight would be intolerable.

Gabrielle spoke around an indulgent smile, "Joxer, come on inside when you're done your bath. That pallet has your name on it."

"In your room?" he asked hopefully.

"I… guess? It is on the floor." She looked sidelong at her sister, who had been making eyes at Joxer over dinner. "As long as you're by the door."

"Yes! We can catch up tonight. I've been continuing to build my legend while you were away!" Oh, boy.


	2. Repairs

**Title: **A Family Aftermath

**Summary:** Now that Hope is gone for good and the real Gabrielle is home with her family… and Xena... and Joxer, everyone has a lot of questions. What information is Gabrielle willing to share? And what will it take to get some alone time with Xena, anyway? Takes place immediately after S04E03, "A Family Affair."

**Chapter Two: Repairs**

Negotiating Xena's injuries and Gabrielle's narrow childhood bed made for a fun puzzle. By morning, Xena was inelegantly sprawled on her belly, half on top of Gabrielle, with her right leg between her partner's and her breaths puffing gently against the juncture of neck and shoulder. Their arms were cast akimbo. As were Joxer's limbs on the floor, which was why, Gabrielle later surmised, Lila tripped over him when she tried to start her day.

Her subsequent collision with the door drew her parents to investigate, and they did not approve of the completely innocent arrangement of traveling heroes they found slowly blinking in the wan sunlight.

"Why is there a man in here?" Hecuba demanded.

Lila, now blocked from leaving by her parents, stood by Joxer's feet and looked around helplessly.

Herodotus just exclaimed, "I knew it!" and pointed at Gabrielle's bed. So much for a enjoying a sleepy morning with her love and a nice day catching up with the family. She briefly closed her eyes against the onslaught of yelling and drama.

"They said I could sleep in here! We sleep together all the time- I mean we camp together! I've never laid a hand- uh, I didn't touch any of the women in here last night!"

Xena lifted her head and roughly warned, "Joxer." Her grouchiness sounded about the level of Gabrielle's, at present.

"And anything that DID happen before last night - and I'm definitely not saying _everything_ happened - was 'cause of Cupid arrows or gods casting sp-"

Xena used the arm laid over Gabrielle's torso to dump their blanket over Joxer's head, causing him to stop speaking and start flailing. "Not helping."

This seemed to finally draw Hecuba's attention to how entangled her daughter and Xena were, because she gave a little gasp. All of this over three half-asleep, shift-clothed people, honestly.

Gabrielle rubbed her eyes with the hand not trapped by Xena and tried to croak out something to calm her parents. "Joxer's right; I told him he could sleep in here. It's just, we usually share a campfire, so it seemed mean to leave him out in the stable while we were inside. I didn't think anything of it. My fault."

Herodotus boomed, "We thought you were a gentleman, Joxer. And what do you two have to say for yourselves?"

A long beat of silence met the query. Even Joxer, once free of his blanket predicament, could hardly summon a ramble. "I… I don't even think of 'em as women, honest. Just sisters-in-arms, fellow rough-and-tough fighters… out on the road, living lean, kicking butt, sleeping across the fire... no touching…"

"Joxer," Lila asked, "why don't we go see about some breakfast?"

"Great idea!" Together, they squirmed past the parents to beat a hasty retreat, leaving two couples in the narrow bedroom.

Meanwhile, Xena rolled to her left elbow with a grunt and winced - just a twitch of the eyelids, really, but Gabrielle noticed.

Rather than taking her freed right arm back right away, she curled it up to touch Xena's back. "Are you all right?"

When Xena directed a half-lidded gaze down at her, a lock of hair cascaded to drape off an elegant cheekbone and obscured the suggestion of a smile forming on her lips. Crankiness momentarily forgotten, blue eyes twinkled at the attention. Gorgeous. Spellbound, Gabrielle wanted nothing more than to kiss her, could see Xena wanted the same, but they only shared words. "I'm fine. 'S just been a while since I took a beating like that; forgot I'd be sore."

Gabrielle buried a dirty joke with a twitch of her eyelids and finally, grudgingly, sat up to face her parents. Xena joined her.

"So… I was going to talk to you about this today," Gabrielle began.

He father accused, "Oh it's clear enough you've been sleeping with her. Gods willing, not under our roof."

Xena, usually so good at letting her take the lead when dealing with her own parents, drawled in a low voice, "Yeah, she's been sleeping with me, Herodotus. But she's not just some roll in the hay, and never a roll in the bunk four feet from her little sister." Xena's lip curled as she spoke the last. Ah, there was the crankiness back. Not that Gabrielle was complaining.

"How long have you been like this?" Was her mother asking her how long she had been sleeping with Xena? How long she'd liked women? How long she'd hated mornings?

Gabrielle tried the first one, "Maybe a year and a half?"

"A year and-?! My child has been practically married to a woman for over a year without telling me?" she despaired, throwing up her arms.

Gabrielle's voice raised an octave. "Look, I'm sorry to keep it from you, but how would I have brought it up? There's only one same-sex couple in Potidaea, and they're men, and you always told me they were bachelor cousins. It took me nearly a year after I left here to figure out that's what was going on!"

Her father grouched, "Yes, we know more of the world than you seem to think we do, child. That doesn't mean it's something we want for you. And you, Xena, even if you were a man, a proper young man would have spoken to us before courting our daughter."

"Courting?" Gabrielle blinked at Xena. "Did we court? Did you court me?"

"I specifically avoided it, mostly. Remember when I stood for you at your wedding and didn't say a word about it?" A single, shapely eyebrow arched, and Gabrielle nodded in response.

"Right. If you couldn't literally read my thoughts when you were dead, I might still be...ee…" coming on too strong to men like David-the-unavailable-sling-wielder and slinking away from the fire at night to take care of herself "...doing a lot of stupid things to distract myself from you. Mom, Dad, we just fell in love."

Her father argued, "You two have been playing house on the road too long. No fit prospects around."

Incredulous, Xena asked, "If Hecuba moved out and Joxer moved in, do you think you'd sleep with him after a while?"

Dodging that mental image, Gabrielle wrought her next words in steel. "We have been through unimaginable things together. Your blood would curdle in your veins with the telling of it. But through our love, we are only stronger for it. She is the other half of me, and I won't have you implying I was seduced by… habit and inexperience!" She breathed hard, having worked up to a shout without alleviating her fit of pique at all. She was a widow and a traveler who had received, if she did say so herself, a lot of prospects and offers - not a confused child. Only Xena's steadying hand on her back reigned her temper into a simple glare.

While Herodotus looked taken aback, Hecuba finally seemed to soften. Still visibly worried, her eyes flicked between the younger couple's faces. "It's love? Really, truly?"

"YES," came the exasperated reply, doubled.

Xena closed her free fist and tilted her head, speaking with a type of calm Gabrielle usually identified as dangerous. "Your daughter is the dearest thing in the world to me. She is my light, my family. I don't expect you to approve, don't really need you to, but I do want you to believe that much." Gabrielle reached out and covered Xena's knee. Xena minutely shifted to share a look with her and lost a fraction of her tension.

Herodotus grumbled, "And your show of devotion toward your 'light' was to leave her, to not even search for her after she fell into the earth? To leave her to recover alone?"

"Father!" Gabrielle flew to her feet, infuriated anew. "If you saw her when we were reunited yesterday, you would never say something so cruel."

Xena touched her elbow, now trying to calm her even as she admitted roughly, "I thought I saw her burn; I was fooled. Look, there's no excu-"

Hearing the direction of Xena's statement, Gabrielle whirled around and shoved a hand over her mouth. "No. Don't apologize for that. I thought I was dead, and so did everyone else. Joxer, Seraphin, the hostages. None of them tried to call in godly favors to check on me. I cannot deal with you feeling guilty about this." She watched the dark brows convey a shock that melted into a kind of amused respect. Mollified, she freed Xena's mouth to turn on her parents again.

"Dad, I do not know what is with you. You've never been so cold to Xena or tried to control me like this, not since our first visit together. And you evidently guessed what was going on with us and didn't throw a fit about it until now. What is it? Was it something Hope said? Whatever she told you, I'm sure it was a lie."

Herodotus growled, "You nearly died. On purpose. That's the difference. That should be enough to turn you toward home, shouldn't it? Haven't you had enough?"

Incredulity slowed her speech. "It wasn't the first time. And, I'm sorry, it may not be the last. I know we haven't talked about this, but while yes, I could die out there, I accepted the possibility a long time ago." Unconsciously, she pressed her fingers over the scar left by a cauterized Persian arrow wound on her chest. It likely appeared to be a gesture of earnestness to her parents.

In his desperation, her father actually turned to Xena. "And how do you feel about that? If you love her like you say?"

Xena stood from the bed and took an even tone. "We _have_ talked about it. I accept it. Poorly, but I do. I protect her as much as she allows me to, but she is her own woman, and she won't let me treat her any other way." A muscle in her jaw twitched, and Gabrielle guessed Tripolis besieged her, as well.

"And what if she changes her mind and wants to settle down? Are your heroics more important than my daughter?" Herodotus asked with a slight sneer.

Frustration broke into Xena's voice. "If she asks to settle, we'll settle. It's not as if she'd keep us from anything that needs to be done. So we'll leave home, go do it, and then go back to… to the Greek Amazons. Or wherever."

Herodotus stood thunderstruck at the pronouncement, but Hecuba and Gabrielle also showed gentle surprise. In a soft voice, the latter asked, "You'd really settle down?"

Blue eyes flicked to green. "You wouldn't ask me to unless it was the right thing for us to do. And we'd obviously talk about it. But yes, I would."

That seemed fair, seeing as Gabrielle couldn't imagine asking. They both had reasons to be out there, fighting and exploring the world. Plus, one or the other of them got antsy by the fourth day in the same bed, unless they were working a beast of a job. All the same, she stepped up to her lover and hugged her close, feeling larger arms enfold her after a split-second. "I love you. Thank you for your faith in me. I'll never ask you to stay anywhere without a reason."

Quiet words ruffled her bangs, "I know; I love you, too. And If I'd known you were at that hospice, I'd have slept under your cot if I had to. They couldn't kick me out, no matter how long it took for you to get better."

"Oh… Herodotus… There's nothing to gain fighting about about this," Gabrielle heard her mother say, followed by an unhappy hum from her father.

In her own time, Gabrielle turned around to see his arms crossed, eyes cast down and to the side, and toe tapping. With Xena's hands resting on her shoulders, she watched the conflict play out on his face. Should she press the attack or back off and let him come to her?

She donned a cloak of quiet dignity and trusted her bard instincts to select a calm, unassailable tone. "Listen. I am your daughter, and I love you, but I'm not your little girl. You can't scold me into... anything. I have a life of my own with its own direction, and Xena is not some teenage thug you can forbid me from seeing. So if you want me to keep coming to visit you like I have, you need to accept things as they are." Almost a full minute of thunderous silence ensued.

Gruffly, still not meeting her eyes, her father said, "Get dressed and eat. You can both work on the farm today." Hecuba followed him out with a last troubled look at her daughter, shutting the door behind her.

Gabrielle's sure expression broke into a frown. Her parents being so upset with her made her feel sick inside. She had always been… if not an obedient child, at least a good one. But the time for facades was past with them. And anyway, if they had asked her about finding a nice young bachelor one more time, she may have snapped.

"They stood there so long, I thought we were going to have to jump out the window in our underthings just to leave."

A tiny gust of air left Gabrielle's nose, almost a snicker. More from surprise than the image Xena's words conjured.

Persisting, Xena observed, "Though, y'know, with a wild daughter like you living out on the road, you'd think they'd be relieved to hear you're monogamous."

Gabrielle reached back and slapped Xena's hip, drawing out a playful growl. The taller woman bent to purr in her ear, "You're gorgeous when you rebel." She nibbled her shoulder and kissed up her neck, and Gabrielle finally relaxed, gratefully tilting her head to encourage the the unsubtle distraction.

Xena's attentions rarely left room for things like worry. She spun Gabrielle and kissed her properly, drew out her concerns with her lips and consumed them, leaving nothing behind but heat and the possessive animal that rested in her bones. Sensing this capitulation to desire, Xena let her hands roam everywhere, here pulling Gabrielle's waist to her own, there caressing up the side of her torso. Gabrielle grappled for just enough space to reach the sleeveless shoulders of Xena's shift and gather them in her fists. She pulled Xena down past her lips so as to whisper in her ear.

"I need to be alone with you today." Her lover's answering shudder excited her all the more, and the response came whispered into her own ear.

"We're alone now…" Xena kissed the corner of her jaw and any bit of neck she could reach from the position in which Gabrielle held her. A slow lick leading to a nibble of the ear drew a soft, pleasured hum from her partner.

She managed to breathily counter with, "That door blocks no noise at all," and felt the answering smile on her skin before she heard it in Xena's words.

"Just as well. I want to take my time with you, once I get my hands where I want them." To punctuate this, Xena ran a hand over her bottom and squeezed.

"Hmm…" Gabrielle let Xena stand up enough to see her face again. "We could rent a room at the tavern for the afternoon."

Amusement crinkled blue eyes, and Xena let out a long exhalation. "That may be the least subtle plan you've ever had. Think about that."

Gabrielle just giggled and kissed her again, releasing Xena's shift and winding her arms around her neck. Their bodies melted together, and Gabrielle enjoyed the play of hands along her back and twining into her hair. Just another moment of this perfect, missed comfort...

"Your clothes are d-whoops!" Lila barreled into the room and wheeled right back out again.

Gabrielle had heard Lila's gait through the door, vaguely, but… "I didn't think she would come inside." She stared at the door.

Xena let her forehead fall against Gabrielle's temple. "How did your parents even manage to have two of you? I think this farm is cursed."

* * *

Once everyone was fed and dressed, Herodotus wrangled Xena and Joxer into helping him replace the barn's previously-weaponized millstone on its platform. Only after that did Joxer get a three-way hug from his sometimes-traveling companions, a cutely-awkward goodbye from Lila, and permission to go on his way. Then, Herodotus and Xena got to work repairing the barn and house while Gabrielle helped her sister tend the animals, collect eggs, and do other chores. Gabrielle tried not to tease Lila too much over her puppy crush on Joxer. Especially after Lila started prying about her "little road boyfriends," as Xena had called them.

Eventually, her sister peeled off to deal with some sewing, and Gabrielle went to help her mother in the kitchen. Awkwardness intruded at first, but they soon relaxed and spoke of banal things and travel anecdotes.

"It was some of the best food I've ever had out of a stall. I need to figure out the sauce they put on the vegetables! You'd like it, but Dad would… Dad would love it," Gabrielle finished glumly. She sighed and caught a sympathetic look from her mother.

"Mom, thank you for being- for not flipping out too much over Xena and me."

Hecuba grimaced. "I'm not going to say I'm comfortable with it. And I don't understand it. But it's done. You've been living with the woman for over three years now; it's obviously not an impulse. And…" She sighed. "I suppose I don't know anyone else who's gone to any Underworld just to see a loved one that's passed. What the gods think of your relationship, that I worry about…"

"Aphrodite and Cupid have never said anything. And Aphrodite's had it out for us enough she would have, if she thought it was worth mentioning." Gabrielle chose not to mention Ares' disapproval. Knowledge that the God of War was jealous of her daughter would not improve Hecuba's disposition toward the situation.

"Oh. Well… then who am I to fuss?" She gave a helpless shrug and received a half smile.

"I wish Dad was as understanding." Gabrielle planted an elbow on the counter and her chin on her hand, indulging an urge to sulk.

Hecuba approached in Gabrielle's peripheral vision, and a warm hand covered her shoulder. "Oh, Gab, it's not Xena that gets him so much. Well, yes it is, but it's not half of it."

Gabrielle tilted her head to better see her mother. "Then what is it? I've passed by him a half dozen times this morning, and he can't even look at me." She sniffled.

"Well, it's one thing to guess about you and Xena and another to know it, much less see it," she allowed, "but besides that…" Hecuba looked into her daughter's eyes and seemed to consider her next words carefully.

Slowly, quietly, she intoned, "Betimes I look at you, Gabrielle, and… You talk of gods and kings as easily as tailors and move through this farm like a wild thing. I almost lose sight of my child in you... and then your sister makes you laugh, or you charm that lioness of yours into playing a kitten's game just to please you, or you tell an old tale that brings a brightness to your eyes, and there she is."

With no particular inflection, Gabrielle allowed, "I've changed."

Hecuba nodded. "You know how sensitive your father is. He just has a hard time separating you from that towheaded imp who used to trod on his heels all day and ask him endless questions. And he worries about you, as I do." She gave Gabrielle's shoulder an extra squeeze. "He will get back to normal before bedtime; you just wait. Worst he'll do to the two of you is threaten Xena not to break your heart. You'll both always be welcome here."

Her eyes shifted to the window, and Gabrielle turned to see what had caught her attention. Herodotus and Xena were on the roof of the barn, and he was exclaiming at her as they worked on the windmill mechanism. After a moment of frustrated body language, Herodotus walked over to Xena and, seemingly patiently, explained what he wanted from her. Xena then began pointing at the mechanism and speaking quickly, and they entered an intense discussion.

"Oh no."

"What?" asked Hecuba.

"Xena's convincing him to try something new with the windmill. When she gets an idea like this, I can barely even get her to eat." Had she told her family about the giant Gareth and the string-bound artificial wing that brought Zeus' lightning to the earth? Maybe that would be a good one for tonight. The family would get an extra kick out of Hower's awkward crush on Xena now.

She turned to her mother and mournfully recounted, "Last time, I actually hand-fed her. I was hoping she'd get embarrassed or distracted, but all she did was grunt a thank you and keep working while she ate."

"She's not one for romance, I take it?" An eyebrow twitch told Gabrielle her mother found this scene funny. She suspected Hecuba drew more comfort from her daughter complaining about her lover like any other woman than from the dramatic pronouncements of the morning.

Gabrielle shook her head gravely. "Very rarely, unless you consider fishing together romantic. And she can't be trusted with cooking tools. If she doesn't burn food with them, she breaks them using them as a weapon." She cracked a smile. "She's a cuddler, though, when no one is looking. And you should see her fuss over me when I'm sick."

Hecuba raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "Hard to picture that one clucking like a mother hen."

"She does more than cluck. She takes care of me instead of sleeping, even if it's just holding my hair while I puke."

"And her the healing expert, too? Well, I'm glad you're being taken care of. As much as you can be if you two insist on going out there and fighting, at least." She looked out the window again. "And it looks like her charm is working on your father, too."

Sure enough, Herodotus was scratching the back of his neck and nodding at Xena. Hecuba asked, "We picked a pair of handfuls, didn't we?"

Gabrielle smiled in response, then watched her mother's face fall into a troubled moue again and mirrored her.

"While we're alone, I wanted to ask you something. Now, I know you don't tell us everything. But earlier you mentioned going through… blood-curdling and unimaginable things. Things you've kept from us." When uneasy silence greeted Hecuba's pronouncement, she continued. "You can talk to me about anything. No matter what happens out there. You don't have to, but I won't love you any less."

Snatches of memories flashed through Gabrielle's mind. Meridian with a knife in her gut, her hot blood spurting over Gabrielle's fingers. Young Hope, crumpled on the ground, face discolored from poison. Throat-rending screams as boiling oil sluiced over an unknown number of Persian warriors. Crassus calling to her while being dragged to the executioner's block. She plastered an attempt at a smile on her face and tried not to look too haunted.

"Thank you. I… there's a lot I don't really want to talk about." Things she'd done, things that had been done to her. Times Xena and she had nearly killed one another, especially, would go over like a murder of crows in a bakery.

If anything, her mother looked even more worried. "Is it… It's not something Xena's done to you, is it? Love her or no, I'd hate to think she hurts you, Gabrielle. We've paid more attention to stories about her since you first left us; we know what she's capable of."

A bark of pained laughter escaped Gabrielle before she could think. "You know what Xena's capable of? Mother, you don't even know what I'm capable of."

Her mother's eyes widened, and Gabrielle thought she was again seeing something of the other in her daughter's countenance. The bard tried to relax her expression and sweep away the bad memories affecting her so. "Listen, Xena will not hurt me. She has nightmares about hurting me. Her past comes to haunt us from time to time, but I accept that. We are doing the best we can to work for the greater good, and we've learned the hard way that trusting in each other is the best way to start. Okay? I don't want to go into how we learned."

Hecuba slowly breathed in and out, but she kept her questions behind a slightly furrowed brow. "Okay. That's fine. You're an adult." A pause. "Actually I do have to ask something else. For the family and the town."

"Yes?" Trepidation elongated the word, but Gabrielle knew it must be important if her mother was pushing it.

Not unkindly, Hecuba asked, "You said Hope looked like you because you were part of… whatever brought her about. Is there anything else we should know of? Any more powers or people you and Xena have interfered with that might come looking for you or yours?"

It wasn't an unfair question, and Gabrielle took a few moments to honestly think about it. "No..." Men like Julius Caesar would take the opportunity to use her against Xena, but she couldn't imagine him or most anyone else figuring out where she was from and targeting it. There was an outside chance Draco was still infatuated with her after that Cupid's Arrow fiasco, but he didn't seem the type to find her parents and ask for her hand. "No, I can't think of anything likely. Except Joxer stopping in for a bite if he's nearby without us."

Hecuba let out a long breath. "Good."


	3. Alone at Last

**Title: **A Family Aftermath

**Summary:** Now that Hope is gone for good and the real Gabrielle is home with her family… and Xena... and Joxer, everyone has a lot of questions. What information is Gabrielle willing to share? And what will it take to get some alone time with Xena, anyway? Takes place immediately after S04E03, "A Family Affair."

**Chapter Three: Alone at Last**

After lunch, Xena and Gabrielle took up their armor, weapons, and packs and went into town to pick up supplies for the road. Xena had kept some of Gabrielle's things when she "died," and she'd sent some of the rest off with Seraphin to be sent along to Potidaea, but that still left several camping supplies of hers to replace. Plus consumables like thread, scrolls, ink, bandages, and soap. Luckily, Xena had more dinars than Gabrielle expected. She muttered something about selling a horse, presumably not Argo.

Of course, by then the whole town had heard about her evil double, so everything took half again as long as expected due to people asking probing questions.

_"So you don't remember all those... things... I told you?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"You were just such a good listener… so quiet, but so attentive... oh, it's probably better this way. I'll take it to my grave."_

_"O-okay?"_

Gabrielle could have lived without all the descriptions of Hope's takeover of her life.

_"We thought you took a few too many knocks to the head out there. You forgot an awful lot of our names. Even got lost once or twice."_

_"Well, I won't say I've never gotten hit in the head, but I'm still as sharp as ever! I think."_

_"That's good, but all the same, best stay clear of old widower Giles' stand today. The village ladies had just gotten him to start courting you, figuring you weren't too touched in the head to help him mind it, be it only just. I think he's a bit disappointed."_

But in retrospect, it was probably good to put in an appearance in town.

After the talks with her family, Gabrielle also noticed some of the more judgmental looks she and Xena got walking together, but at least they came by those honestly. And it was hard to tell what stemmed from rumors about them versus a general disapproval of traveling female fighters.

Eventually, Xena was able to say, "That's everything. Let's get out of here, huh?" Even watching Gabrielle squirm under questioning couldn't keep her mood up for such an extended shopping trip.

Gabrielle slouched dramatically. "Uuugh, yes, by the gods. I am ready to find the most remote edge of Greece and dig a hole there. Maybe stay in it for a week."

"Big enough for two?"

A grin. "Always. But for now, I know just the spot for us."

She led Xena to a rough hunting trail, and shortly after it met the river, they left it for some boulders clustered just within sight. They made a racket struggling through the brush, but once at the boulders, Gabrielle pointed at the dryer patch of ground in between them. Only short grasses grew there, and once she spread out a blanket she had snuck out of the house, it made for an inviting bed.

Xena was all half-lidded eyes and lazy smiles. "Very nice. Have you taken your older lover to the local teen make-out spot?"

With faux indignation, Gabrielle responded, "Xena, what are you implying? I was perfectly ladylike in my teens!" At Xena's arched eyebrow, she amended, "Before I left with you, anyway." She stepped up to her warrior and began removing her armor.

Xena grinned and helped with the hooks and buckles keeping her curves locked away from Gabrielle's touch. "I was only implying you must have had all the gossip in town. How else did you get so good at sensitive chats?"

"Nice save. But to me this was more of a play-fort. These stones are stained with the blood of many skinned knees, valiantly wounded in games of 'king of the hill' and 'corsairs versus guards.' On a working day like this, no one should be all the way out here, though."

Xena purred, "Good. Keeping my hands off you has been a torment." The change in tone sent a ribbon of excitement sliding along Gabrielle's spine, and she flicked her eyes up to catch Xena's mirroring her wicked, joyful anticipation.

After they deposited the last bit of armor on a low rock, Gabrielle pulled Xena to her by the hips and kissed the underside of her chin. "Then bring it to an end." She maneuvered to kiss Xena's lips, but a tilt of the head stopped her.

"Can we make sure your sister isn't lurking behind a bush first?" That earned Xena a smack on her leather-clad backside. She just cackled and swooped in for a kiss.

The teasing mood began to fade at first contact. Finally alone, serenaded by birds, locusts, and moving water, they sank into an unhurried reacquaintance. Xena followed the long, languid first kiss with a peppering of short ones over Gabrielle's lips, cheek, and jaw, ending with a nibble on the side of her neck.

"I missed you," she breathed.

Gabrielle turned her head to lavish attention on Xena's neck in turn. "I missed you." Her eyes raked over the healing bruises her love had taken defending Potidaea, and she grazed her fingers over ribs she knew to be too prominent after weeks of hard living. She felt an intense need to make Xena feel loved, cherished, and wanted after their ordeal.

So she placed a hand on the back of Xena's neck and gently directed her where she wanted her. After a searing kiss, she moved her attention to Xena's ear, gently biting it. "Xena, take off your boots. And mine."

Xena's breath hitched, and she nodded against the side of Gabrielle's face. Gabrielle moved to stand by their blanket. Meanwhile, swift fingers removed Xena's boots and tossed them toward the rest of their gear as she stepped on the blanket, and then she knelt before Gabrielle to loosen hers. She offered her shoulders for Gabrielle to steady herself as she eased each boot off and set it to the side. Xena looked up at her lover but did not move to get up, instead lightly massaging the freed calves.

Gabrielle laid a hand on the side of Xena's face and purred, "Good." The word seemed to caress Xena by itself; she closed her eyes as it slid over her. Even the set of her shoulders lost their tension. This was exactly what Gabrielle wanted to see. Xena regularly carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, but sometimes, she found a measure of peace in giving control over to her trusted lover. This suited Gabrielle, who had her own reasons for enjoying that control. After weeks of struggling among strangers in a hospice and showing up to a disaster in progress at the farm, this mantle of responsibility settled comfortingly over her shoulders. And the powerful warrior kneeling at Gabrielle's feet and turning her head into her touch, catlike, shot a little thrill through her whole body.

Matter-of-factly, she said, "Xena, you're wearing too many clothes."

Xena looked down to start undoing her leathers, and Gabrielle abruptly redirected her head back up. "Ah-! Did I tell you to do something?"

"No. Sorry." Xena didn't look very sorry, a half grin stealing over her face, but she tried to sound it.

Gabrielle knelt with her on the blanket, hand still on her face, and planted a quick peck on her lips. She backed off only enough to speak against her skin, "Do as I say, and I'll take good care of you. Understand?"

"Yes," came the rasped response, which traveled from Gabrielle's ears and lips straight down to her center. They both knew, of course, that if Xena did not do as told, Gabrielle would take care of her still, just differently. But it was doubtful either had the patience for that kind of game today. They kissed, and Xena was pliable and warm under her lover's attentions. Gabrielle's hand traveled from Xena's cheek to entwine in her hair, gently at first, then tightening until it pulled. Xena eventually broke the kiss and gave the littlest gasp. She was smiling, one eye cracked open but clouded with desire, and Gabrielle smiled back at her.

"My beautiful warrior."

"All yours," promised Xena.

Gabrielle rewarded that by releasing her hair and instead letting her hands caress from Xena's shoulders, down her arms, and around her waist. With her mouth she explored Xena's collarbone, the hollow of her neck, and the top of her chest until coming up against a barrier to the skin she really wanted to taste. It heaved under her attentions, as eager to be free of its confines as she was to touch it.

"Take off your clothes, then take off mine." She got Xena to make eye contact before she let go of her. "Not too quickly." At Xena's nod, she settled back on her elbows to enjoy the sight of her warrior revealing herself to hungry eyes.

Xena loosened her leather dress and slid its straps off her shoulders. When she stood to slide the garment off, she turned, letting Gabrielle enjoy the slow reveal of her finely-muscled back and the swell of her backside. Dress set aside, she faced Gabrielle to remove her underclothes, obviously enjoying the way green eyes glazed over at the sight of freed breasts and dark curls. The younger woman licked her lips subconsciously, and Xena smirked before going to her knees and crawling up Gabrielle's body, straddling her legs with her knees when she got to them.

She tried to stop with her head at Gabrielle's chest so she could rest her weight on her elbows and start pulling at the ties on the green top, but for Gabrielle, the feeling of softness and sinew hovering over her was too much to resist. She guided Xena up for some more kissing and laid fully back to free up her hands. They had so much skin to explore now. Both women moaned at Gabrielle possessively inventorying back muscles and the curve of Xena's backside.

They parted, panting, and Gabrielle ordered, "Go on, my shirt."

Xena settled back down to rest her breasts below Gabrielle's, on bare midriff skin. Gabrielle hummed her pleasure at this as Xena made short work of her top's laces. Breasts now bared to her, Xena looked pointedly at them, then flicked bedroom eyes up at Gabrielle in a silent request for permission. A slightly goofy grin was answer enough; Xena ducked her head to slowly, carefully worship Gabrielle's body with her mouth. Light licks led to the circling of nipples and then warm envelopment and long suction. Xena closed her eyes at the last, as if enjoying it as much as Gabrielle - definitely enjoying the arch of her partner under her body and the way she brought the well-attended chest to heaving. Only then did they reluctantly sit up so Xena could slide the top off Gabrielle's shoulders. She used the opportunity to press close to her again, making them both shiver. Xena's hands then made short work of the ties of Gabrielle's skirt.

Gabrielle said, "Good. Now, lie down." She stood and stepped out of her skirt and underwear before going right back down to straddle Xena's hips. Large hands went to her own hips automatically, but she gently pried them away and leaned forward to press them to the blanket by Xena's head.

Smilingly, she directed, "No touching. Put them behind your head if you have to. Understand?"

Betrayal, neediness, and blazing desire rolled through Xena's eyes in turn, but she nodded. "Yes."

Gabrielle sat back and thought Xena must be able to feel how wet she was. She wriggled to make sure Xena did and got to enjoy a hungry, feral look.

Xena slid her hands under her head.

And Gabrielle got to work. She fell forward to kiss Xena again, this time plundering her mouth with aggression and relishing the way she yielded and whimpered. As Gabrielle then moved down Xena's chin and the column of her throat, she slid her right leg over to nudge Xena's legs open and rest between them. She lay flat against her lover and pressed her thigh to slick heat, feeling her own press against Xena's leg at the same time. Gabrielle ground into Xena with her hips, and they both groaned as the motion finally gave respite to the sweet torture of their lovemaking so far. Gabrielle rubbed against her again… and again, starting a languid rhythm that Xena met readily, one that set both their breath rates spiraling. She saw Xena's hands fist underneath her head.

Finally, Gabrielle allowed her right hand to meander up and touch Xena's breast. She covered it with her whole hand at first, hardened nipple settling between her knuckles, and massaging. She pulled back to thumb over the nipple and then capture it between the thumb and forefinger. She squeezed a little, all the while still grinding against her partner again… and again, and again, slowly.

Xena gave a throaty moan at the attention, head now tilted back, mouth slightly open.

Gabrielle removed her hand for balance while she lowered her head to lick the nearer nipple. Just little licks between grinds at first, then a long lave with the flat of her tongue before taking it up in her mouth.

"Oh! Oh, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle hummed against Xena's skin and sucked. Xena arched underneath her, sending a thrill over her entire body. "Xena, do you like this?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"But?" Gabrielle knew Xena could feel the smile against the sensitized skin of her breasts.

"But faster."

"Faster what?"

A frustrated growl preceded, "Please. Gabrielle, faster, please."

Gabrielle obliged. "Only because you're so good… and I can't help myself." She abandoned Xena's chest to kiss her mouth, keeping her thigh pressed against Xena's desire even as the relative length of their torsos meant she lost some pressure on her own. Their tongues dueled to the rhythm of their bodies for a minute, Xena's enthusiasm revealing how much she wanted to touch her lover. But not yet.

Gabrielle slid back down Xena's body just a few inches and turned to lay at her side. Xena groaned at the loss of contact with her lover's leg, but a hand soon alit on her cheek and roamed down her form, stopping here to play on her chest, lingering there to explore the curve of her waist. It hesitated once buried in a mound of curls, waiting for the impatient thrust of Xena's hips. It didn't take long, and then a chuckling Gabrielle's fingers explored slick, sensitive flesh.

She leaned in to nibble and suck on Xena's neck even as her hand remapped the shape of her lover's desire and drew needy noises from her throat. After gently playing with the nub at its peak, she sank one, then two fingers into its depths. Finally inside. The heat and wetness alone were enough to make Gabrielle moan against Xena's neck as she nuzzled it.

This pattern she knew well, and Xena was more than ready for it. Fingers thrust and curled as her thumb gave rhythmic swipes over the center of Xena's pleasure, and Xena, already very worked up, quickly began to pant.

It affected Gabrielle intensely, to have this powerful woman completely open to her and lost in pleasure under her hands. She ratcheted up the intensity just a hair and felt the walls start to tighten around her fingers.

"Xena."

A wordless moan was the only response.

"Xena, come for me." Gabrielle bit Xena's shoulder to punctuate the growled order, and Xena fell apart in her arms. She cried out as Gabrielle stroked her through the orgasm before pulling her hand away. Then it was all tenderness, kissing her temple, brushing her hair from her eyes, and a soft kiss to the lips.

When she thought Xena could likely understand Greek again, Gabrielle breathed her name against her cheek, waited for hazy eye contact, and simply ordered, "Touch me."

Before she knew what was happening, she was on her back and pressed into the blanket by the weight of her lover. Xena kissed her thoroughly and began working her way down her body. Meanwhile, a hand parted Gabrielle's thighs and lightly, steadily caressed the sensitive skin on their insides, drawing out pleasured whimpers. Soon, Xena's hands and face were both tantalizingly close to reddish-gold curls and needy flesh. She wasted no time going in to lick the length of Gabrielle's lower lips, not even waiting for the answering gasp to end before closing in on the nub at the top. This sudden focus on the center of her pleasure made Gabrielle cry out wordlessly. She was already so turned on, was honestly already hot and full of longing before they started. Her legs were nudged to rest over strong shoulders, and one, then two fingers smoothly slid inside of her with little preamble and less resistance. Xena set a steady pattern of tonguing, sucking, and curling her fingers.

"Xen-Xena, ah, gods, you-!" Words failed her as a white-hot orgasm built, teetered on the edge, and then blissed out her senses. Xena stayed attached through her most intense shuddering, then mercifully crawled back up her body. Once Gabrielle opened her eyes, sated blue ones looked back at her from beneath sweat-tousled bangs. She pulled Xena down for a leisurely kiss, then encouraged her to roll to her side.

"Thank you." Gabrielle kissed Xena's cheek. "Thank you." She kissed her forehead. "You're amazing. C'mere."

With a lazy smile, Xena obligingly laid her head on Gabrielle's chest, and Gabrielle stroked her hair. Xena laid a hand over her hip and idly explored its hollow with her thumb. They just breathed for a little while, calming down, until Gabrielle realized she felt something wet on her chest.

In a very gentle tone, she asked, "Are you all right?" Sometimes, Xena could get a little delicate after one of these games. Gabrielle cherished it, made sure to tread carefully on any cracks in her strong warrior exterior.

"I'm fine..." A sniffle followed this.

Gabrielle started. "Your bruises! I had you on your back! I'm sorry; does it hurt?"

Thickly, "No... they're fading already, and you're not heavy."

"Am I so rusty after a few months that I made you cry?"

Laughter puffed against Gabrielle's chest. "No. No, I just… didn't think I could have this again." Oh.

"I know," Gabrielle soothed. "I thought you were dead, too, when I couldn't get in contact with you."

"But I _knew_ you were." Xena propped herself up to look at Gabrielle's face, and the naked anguish there stopped the bard's breath. "I kept my promise; I didn't hurt anyone - but when I told Iolaus what happened, gods, we got so drunk. Hercules had his hands full keeping us out of trouble and breathing." Her gaze fell to the side.

That must have been serious. Xena hesitated to even get tipsy most of the time, with all the enemies she had and the demons that slept under her skin. Gabrielle was glad Hercules had been there to watch over her. Sensing Xena wasn't done talking, however, Gabrielle just stroked her hair more.

"After that, I just… ranged around Greece and slept in your bedroll until it stopped smelling like you. And when I did go to the Land of the Dead, to reach right spiritual place for the ritual, I had to lose it out there on the steppes a little bit." How lonely must it have been for her, in the wind and endless brown, teetering on the edge of herself?

Gabrielle's, "I'm sorry," held palpable misery. Xena's head moved up to hover over hers.

"Not your fault. Never your fault," she insisted.

Gabrielle moved her hand from Xena's head to her cheek, thumbing away a single, errant tear. "Not yours either. I'm just so happy to be here with you, Xena." She conjured a watery smile and received one in return.

"Me, too." Xena kissed her, then poked her in the stomach and got a yelp for it. "Hey, didn't I say I was going to take my time with _you _today?"

Now Gabrielle grinned and affected indulgence. "Next time, my love. I selfishly decided to have my way with you this time."

"Mm, I'll live." Xena dipped in for another kiss, then raised an eyebrow and confessed. "You know, when I woke up with you this morning, the only reason I didn't wonder if I was dreaming is that I don't dream about your family yelling at us." She narrowed her eyes. "At least, I haven't yet. Might start, after these few days."

Gabrielle laughed in earnest over this, and Xena chuckled as well. Then the former pulled the latter back down to cuddle for just a little while longer.

* * *

The day's light was swiftly waning when Xena and Gabrielle stumbled back to the farm. They hung up their freshly-washed blanket to dry with some other laundry before going inside, hoping to avoid some scrutiny. Once in the door, they offered blithe hellos and began stowing their weapons and packs in a corner.

But Lila, of course, got right to the point. "What took you guys so long? And why is your hair wet?"

Gabrielle smiled brightly and employed some carefree gesturing. "Oh, we just stopped to get some weapons practice and conditioning in while we were out, and then we were a mess so we cooled off in a stream. It's important I build my strength back up after laying around that hospice, you know?"

As they walked toward the kitchen, Hecuba looked them over and fixed them with a deadpan expression. "Worked up an appetite, did you?"

Gabrielle nervously looked to the side to see Xena absentmindedly glancing around, her expression far too self-satisfied. It faded to befuddlement when Hecuba reached out and brushed some of her hair to the side.

"Maybe not. Looks like at least one of you had a bite."

Lila must have been at just the right angle to see the love mark their mother exposed to the light. She sputtered and nearly died laughing.

Gabrielle just wanted to die.

Xena seemed to be trying for a cool, unaffected expression, but a nervous tic gave her away to Gabrielle's eyes. She cleared her throat. "I'm going to run out and finish fixing the windmill before it gets dark. Thanks for helping me find the part at the market." She took measured steps back to the packs, dug something out, and started to leave - but stopped.

She strode back over to Gabrielle and placed a hand on her shoulder and a chaste kiss to her temple. "I'll be back soon." A mildly defiant glare with a tip of the chin was her farewell to Hecuba and Lila before she left the building.

"Your valiant protector." Hecuba raised an eyebrow at Gabrielle, some humor sneaking into her eyes. "Nothing to say for yourself?"

Gabrielle blushed but shrugged. She had nothing to apologize for.

Her mother gave a little snort and tried to hide a smile. She tsked. "Go set the table for dinner, wild child." When Gabrielle sidled past her to fetch some dishes, she quietly needled, "Leaving marks at your age. For shame."

Gabrielle promptly tripped over her own feet, stumbled, and whirled around. "Hey, I thought she might be dead until yesterday!"

That set Lila off laughing anew.

"Look at what a terrible example you are to your sister."

* * *

The next morning, Xena and Gabrielle awoke spooned in the narrow bed, this time with no one shouting. Specifically, Gabrielle awoke tucked cozily against a Xena who kissed her cheek and refused to admit how long she had been awake. Over a large breakfast, the family asked clarifying questions about the previous night's stories and inquired as to where they were headed next (to fetch loyal Argo from a peaceful valley several days' walk away). And then it was time for long hugs at the door.

Lila's hug came with a whispered request to send her a promising, handsome man if she found one nearby "since they don't have a chance with you, heartbreaker."

Indignant, Gabrielle opened her mouth to ask if Xena had told her any sordid details of crushes past - then looked at her parents standing right beside them and thought better of it. Xena also received a suspicious look but met it with an expression of purely insincere innocence.

Her mother's hug came with pleading requests to be careful, to not bite off more than she could chew, and to come home more often, as always. Gabrielle appreciated anew how much her mother respected her decisions, even the dangerous ones. It was such a waste of family time to argue over what couldn't be changed...

Her father's hug was delayed, because he pulled her to the side to talk more privately.

"Listen." He had one hand on her shoulder and the other on her elbow, and his eyes searched hers. "I'm sorry about yesterday, and I don't want you leaving without me saying so. These few days have been a shock, is all…. Truth is, Xena's attachment to you is the least of my worries. Please, please be careful." He waited for Gabrielle's nod before he added. "I'm proud of you for trying to do good. But don't hesitate to come home, be it for a break or forever. You can even bring Xena with you. She's a terrible farmer, but she can earn her keep with repairs. And we can tell the Amazons to hightail it if they come looking. Okay?"

He put up a brave face, and the words rang sincere, but Gabrielle could hear what went unsaid, could see a lot of it in the strain around his eyes and the too-firm set of his jaw. He found much to be proud of in what she was doing with her life, but he hated it, as well. Every time he saw her, she had new scars - her clothes hiding precious few of them - and the weight of more experience behind her eyes. And he was too smart and too realistic to not wonder about her closest brushes with death, the ones she did not share with her family or in the scrolls of hers that ended up in circulation around the city-states. But he knew he couldn't make her quit. So he offered savory tidbits instead of the leash, promises instead of threats to entice her to put up her staff and at least try to be safe. Knowing, Gabrielle was sure, that it would do no good but having to try.

So she just gave a wry smile and said, "That's… not likely, Dad. But it means a lot for you to offer." It really did.

He mirrored her expression. "I know. But I mean it." And then they had their hug - warm and genuine.

A few more jokes, light touches, and fussing questions about their food and supplies finally sent Xena and Gabrielle on their way. But as they walked, the latter noticed the former had a funny look on her face.

Once out of earshot, Gabrielle asked, "What is it?"

"Your mother asked me about mine. And my brother. Something about meeting her 'daughter's in-laws.'"

Gabrielle let the image of an extended family gathering roll through her mind. "...Oh, Zeus, I hope my dad is the one they leave behind to mind the farm. Your mom would eat him alive." She thought. "Then again…"

"I don't know. Your dad somehow made threats sound like an apology yesterday."

Gabrielle laughed out a, "What?"

Xena furrowed her brow. "Let me see if I can remember what he said." Pitching her voice low and clear, she quoted, "'If you've a mind to sacrifice yourself for the world again, I'd thank you to do it out of view of my impulsive offspring. And you take care of her like you were before this Hope mess, you hear, or I'll sell this farm to put a bounty on your head.' Then he complimented the repairs I did before I could figure out what to say."

Gabrielle giggled, picturing Xena's probable expression after such a tirade - probably frozen in subtle bewilderment, then shaken into studious boredom. "Thank you for being so patient with my family. I know we didn't exactly discuss telling them about us."

Xena shrugged. "Your family, your choice. I'd put up with worse than that to make you happy." It was so matter-of-fact, but it generated an all-encompassing warmth.

"You would, wouldn't you? Why don't you start by helping me figure out who all thinks I'm dead so I know where to send word. Then I'll do my best to feed you back up to fighting weight. Would that make _you _happy?"

"...Will you make those little dumplings with the red stuff inside?"

With fond exasperation, Gabrielle sighed, "Yes. All you can eat, once we get the ingredients."

Xena responded with her sunniest grin. "Then yep!"

END

**End note: **I haven't written porn in a while and have NEVER written F/F, so I'd love some constructive (or completely nonconstructive) commentary, if you have any. Either way, thanks for reading!


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